Now, WiiWare's up.
I really enjoyed Flight Control the first couple of times I played it, but I think it may be in danger of overstaying its welcome at this point – because as it's been ported to more and more platforms, it feels like it's gotten further and further away from what first made it so accessible.
The control scheme is my main concern, as Flight Control was first designed for direct touch screen interaction on the iPhone screen. Its first trip to Nintendo's platforms adapted this well enough, as the DSi's own touch screen and stylus were suitable substitutes – but now, on Wii, it's lost that method of input. You have to direct your planes' flight paths with a floating cursor controlled by the Wii Remote's IR pointing ability now.
It works, but not well enough. Flight Control is just too frantic – once you've moved past the first few minutes of play, the screen is swarmed by incoming aircraft and it's a challenge to keep up. With direct input onto a touch screen, these moments are more manageable – your reflexes are faster. Having to wave a cursor across the screen on the Wii, though, introduces an extra delay in your timing that's just too tough to compensate for.
By yourself, that is. Now, I'm definitely not a big fan of the single-player mode on this new WiiWare edition of Flight Control – I think you'd be better suited to sticking with a touch screen portable version if you're just going to be flight controlling alone. But what is unique and intriguing about having the game on Wii is its new drop-in, drop-out multiplayer mode.
Up to three other players can join your session at any time, each one of them getting their own little cursor on the screen. This is a godsend, as it's an immense help to have others taking care of their own portion of the playing field. The game is still frantic, but much, much more manageable with more people all working together.
It also introduces a fun dynamic that previous versions of the game lacked – that good old Nintendo quality of simultaneous cooperation and competition. You can solely help each other, sure. But you can also mess with your friends by sending a helicopter soaring on a collision course with their passenger jet as they're trying to bring it in for a landing – earning their ire and a guaranteed retaliation, no doubt.
Who would have thought that such a single-player-focused iPhone app would go on to become such an interesting new multiplayer party option on Wii?
